BARRE — White River Valley’s Dominic Craven connected for four 3-point field goals in Wednesday’s Division IV semifinal at the Barre Auditorium, but it was his final one in the waning seconds that lifted the Wildcats to a 47-45 victory over Long Trail.
“I knew I needed to make it,” Craven said of the pressure-packed trey.
If you think that Craven’s launch came in a pressure cooker, that was nothing compared to the free throws the Mountain Lions had with 2.5 seconds remaining. They missed them both and a wild celebration ensued for WRV and their fans.
The foul line was the bugaboo for the no. 2-seeded Mountain Lions the entire second half. They were just 5-of-15 from the stripe during those 16 minutes.
Misfiring at the line and committing 17 turnovers were the Mountain Lions undoing in the second half.
Craven’s 3-point marksmanship was a big piece of WRV’s offense but a 3-ball by his teammate Austin Tracy was equally as important.
Tracy’s 3 came out of a timeout with less than three minutes to play and put the no. 3-seeded Wildcats in front, 43-41.
“I am more of an inside player. I don’t take many 3s. But I knew it was good as soon as it left my hand,” Tracy said.
White River Valley started fast. Craven drained a 3-pointer for the first points of the game and the Wildcats used that as a springboard to a 13-7 first-quarter lead.
The second quarter, though, belonged to the Mountain Lions. The Dickerson brothers were a big part of LT’s domination in that stanza.
Ty Dickerson, the big post player, came off the bench in the first quarter and by halftime he had eight points and six rebounds.
Jack Dickerson, a freshman, had two steals that he converted into layups. He was fouled on his second layup and completed the three-point play.
The play of the brothers from Middletown Springs helped the Lions take a 25-19 lead into halftime.
“Things were going our way at that time,” Long Trail coach Mike Olson said.
Olson pointed the finger at free throw shooting as the culprit in the second half.
He emphasized the missed free throws with 2.5 ticks left were magnified because of the situation but it was really the struggle at the line the entire second half that did the Dorset school in.
Olson loved what his players accomplished over the winter and that they brought basketball mania to Long Trail, something it had not seen much of in the past.
“I think we brought basketball and athletics to Long Trail this season,” Olson said.
“It is a great group of kids. They are committed to the process and to each other.
“And we have a lot of pieces coming back.”
White River Valley lost its regular season game to Long Trail in Dorset, 34-31.
Wildcat coach Mike Gaudette said felt that loss did nothing to erode his team’s confidence. He said the team team got more confidence from that game despite the setback.
“We knew that we didn’t play very well over there,” Gaudette said.
The Wildcats could have been reeling after squandering their 13-7 first-quarter lead to go to halftime trailing by six.
“We knew that we just had to play our game,” Craven said of the halftime confab.
“We were lackadaisical in the first half,” Gaudette said. “We talked about that at the half.
“We played man on defense, something we had not done all year. The kids really dug in.”
Gaudette praised Brayden Ross for his role in the win.
“He is a freshman but he doesn’t play like a freshman. He sure didn’t tonight.”
Tomasz Koc, the Mountain Lions’ point guard from Poland, has driven the bus all year offensively. He had another productive night, leading all scorers with 20 points. He nailed a couple of 3-pointers.
Ty Dickerson had a monster game down low with 14 points and 14 rebounds. The persistent big man had three putbacks on the same possession a couple of times.
Jack Dickerson finished with nine points.
Craven led the Wildcats with 17 points and Russ followed with 10. Weston Trombley added eight points and also was a force on the boards. Tracy had seven and Arliss Spaulding five.
Long Trail finishes the season at 21-2.
The Wildcats will take an 18-4 record into Saturday’s game at noon against No. 4 Blue Mountain. The Wildcats and Bucks did not meet during the season.